


Beautiful Catastrophe

by FellToWonderland



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cancer, Fluff, High School, M/M, Mentions of past abuse, amputee eren, terminal illness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-29
Updated: 2015-07-29
Packaged: 2018-04-11 18:09:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4446467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FellToWonderland/pseuds/FellToWonderland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At age thirteen Eren was diagnosed with cancer. Not wanting his friends to be around for his inevitable death, he pushed them away. Three years later, he's cancer free and he's put up barriers to keep people out so they won't be in his "Blast Zone". </p><p>Enter Levi: a high school senior who's determined to break down his barriers. Eren knows that letting him in could either result in a terrible mistake or a beautiful catastrophe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beautiful Catastrophe

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Before we being I want to tell you that for this fic I had to do lots of research so if you know more about any of this please don't hesitate to tell me! Also I would like to thank my beta reader Tyler for finding spelling errors and just over all helping me make this chapter better. And if you would like to hit either of us up on tumblr My beta is possibly-sane and I am marcos-freckled-booty. I hope you all have your permission slips signed because this is going to be a Feels Trip.

Having cancer changes people. Sometimes it makes people stronger. Other times it drives them to do the unthinkable.

For me, it made me realize just how many people would suffer if I died. I’ve been to funerals before. I’ve seen how many people cry, how much they hurt. I didn’t want that for my friends. I wanted them out of my "Blast Zone" of misery when I died. So I pushed them away. Only two of my friends stayed and that was Mikasa and Armin.

Mikasa stayed because, well, she’s my sister and there was no way I’d ever be able to get rid of her.

Armin refused to leave. I put him through a lot of shit to try to get him to leave, but he stayed, and I’m glad he did. I’m not sure I would have made it without him.

I suppose I better give you a little insight on what happened. Shortly after my thirteenth birthday I started to get a pain in my left leg. My dad, being a doctor, said I probably pulled something while I was running around outside. I figured that he was right and I went on. But, over time the pain kept getting worse, it started to swell and I could hardly move my knee. Dad was slightly more concerned, but was still confident that I had pulled something and he put me on bedrest. I started to get a fever. I didn’t tell him at first. He already had a lot on his mind and he didn’t need to be worrying about me. When he finally did find out, he said he was taking me to the ER, saying that this was way more than a pulled muscle. As I was going down the stairs I tripped and my leg broke.

I was rushed to the ER. Tests were preformed, different types of x-rays and scans were done and it was eventually concluded that I had a cancer called Extraosseous Ewing Sarcoma. Extraosseous Ewing Sarcoma is a tumor that’s found in the soft tissue outside the bone. They said that it hadn’t spread to any organs or other limbs and that they had caught it early enough, so I had a good chance of living.

 _A good chance_.

To me, that was a death sentence.

I remember my mom crying when I was diagnosed. My dad just stared solemnly at the floor. Mikasa just looked shocked. Shocked that I could get cancer. Shocked that I might die. I couldn’t leave her. She had already lost so much. Just three years prior she had lost her mom and dad. Now, she might lose the closest thing she had to a brother.

Chemotherapy was used to shrink my tumor to a more manageable size and then they used surgery to remove it. But, that wasn’t the only thing that they had to remove.

When they first went in to do my surgery, they said that it was possible that they may have to amputate my leg, seeing as the tumor had damaged a large part of the bone and they wanted to make sure they got rid of all the tumor. I remember praying the night before that they wouldn’t have to amputate my leg. I never prayed. Heck, at the time I wasn’t even sure if I believed in a god. But, I remember praying to as many as I could remember there was so that I didn’t have to get my leg amputated.

They did amputate my leg though. I had nothing up to my knee. After surgery I went through more Chemo to ensure that my cancer was fully gone and I was then diagnosed completely cancer free.

Sure, I may have been cancer free, but I was still scared. My cancer could come back, and I would have to go through all of that all over again. I would have to have surgery and chemo and I think that scared me more than dying.

Three years have passed since my initial diagnosis, and two of them have been cancer free. In a sense, I’m a shell of my former self. Before cancer, I liked to go outside and run. Obviously I couldn’t do that anymore, even with my prosthetic. So now, I sat in my room, watched YouTube, read, or wrote. I hardly ever left my room on my own accord.

Mom, Dad, or Mikasa usually forced me out at some points, like to go out to eat or to the grocery store, but they long since stopped trying to get me to do things with them like watch a movie or sit outside. I didn’t want to do those things anymore because I knew I would be creating more memories for them to cry over when I died. And I didn’t want that.

Armin probably tried the hardest to get me out of the house, always inviting me to places with him and sometimes, it worked. Most of the time though, it didn’t.

Today though, he was being unusually adamant for me to come to the bookshop he worked at. He’d been texting me all afternoon to come and it was getting kind of annoying.

 **_Armin:  
_ ** _Come on Eren! You know you’ll enjoy yourself!_

 **_Me:  
_ ** _Armin…I don’t want to go…_

 **_Armin:_ ** _  
Why? Are you worried you’ll actually have fun?_

 **_Me:  
_ ** _Well, no…_

 **_Armin:  
_ ** _Why then?_

 **_Me:  
_ ** _Because my prosthetic is broken_

It wasn’t a lie. I had broken my prosthetic and we didn’t have the money to get it fixed.

 **_Armin:  
_ ** _Okay…We have a copy of the First Harry Potter book here, in hardback might I add, for five dollars. Will you come now?_

 **_Me:  
_ ** _Wait…Seriously??? I need photographic proof!_

I had all of the books in hardback except the first. I haven’t been able to find a copy of it in hardback anywhere, and if that place had it, I would go.

Sure enough, Armin sent me a picture of the book in all of its hardback glory.

 **_Me:_ ** _  
I don’t have the money for it today. Can you reserve it for me???_

 **_Armin:  
_ ** _Only if you come down here! ^_^_

 **_Me:  
_ ** _Alright, I’ll come. Just give me about 15 minutes._

He knew exactly how to get to me. I didn’t want to leave my room, but if it meant I might be able to complete my collection of Harry Potter, I would go. I sighed, grabbed my crutches, filled my pocket with some change for the bus and went downstairs. Well, I kind of slid down the stairs to be honest. It’s really the only way I can go downstairs without my prosthetic.

“Where are you going?” Mikasa asked, as I headed out the door. I looked over and saw that she was pouring over some homework on the kitchen table.

“Oh, Armin wants me to come to that bookshop that he works at.” I said. Mikasa nodded, a slight smile on her face.

“Okay, well I’m sure mom would want you home by dinner, so just be back by then or I’ll tell her you were on a hot date.” She said, her smile widening.

“I think you just want to see me suffer.” I said. She giggled. I’d never hear the end of it from mom if Mikasa told her I was on a date. She’d never believe me that I had went to see Armin.

“Maybe I just want to have a little fun now and then.” She giggled. I rolled my eyes and smiled.

“I’ll make sure to be back by dinner.” I told her. She waved goodbye and continued on with her homework.

Luckily for me, there was a bus stop at the end of my street. I heard that the old people had petitioned for one or something like that, but their petition worked out for me so I didn’t question it.

Fifteen minutes and some odd stares later I was at Main Street. I hated it when people stared at me. Didn’t their parents teach them their manners?

As I headed down the hill, I was slightly concerned about how I was going to get back up. Sure, I could get down it just fine, but it was pretty steep and I knew I was going to have a problem getting back up. Oh well, I’ll worry about that when I get to that point.

When I walked in I was greeted by the cheery ring of a bell and Armin’s huge smile. He looked like he almost hadn’t expected me. The person behind the counter, who had to be Armin’s coworker, looked at me up and down, but he didn’t stare at my leg. And I was grateful. He was one of the first few people who didn’t stare at me when they first saw me.

The first thing I noticed about the guy was how short he was. He couldn’t have been taller than 5’3. But, he had a menacing look to make up for his height.

“Eren, this is my coworker Levi. Levi, this is my friend Eren.” Armin said happily. So, his name was Levi. I smiled and waved at him.

“Well, I’m going to go restock.” He said, leaving his spot from behind the counter. What the hell?

“Don’t worry, he’s always like that.” Armin said with a smile. “He scared the crap out of me the first day I started here. But, he’s not bad. I promise.”

“Are you sure? He seems like a dick to me.” I grumbled.

“He’s not. I blame his attitude on a combination of high school and a lack of sleep.” Armin said. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“So Eren, what exactly happened to your prosthetic?” Armin asked.

“I told you, it broke. Plus, we don’t have the money to get it fixed right now.” I responded.

“How did you manage to break it?” he asked.

“Honestly, I don’t even know.” I laughed. He had a look on his face like he knew that I knew exactly how I broke it, but he laughed anyways.

“So you’re all the way back to square one then for a while now, huh?” Armin asked with a slight giggle.

“Yeah, it seems that way.” I responded. I knew what he meant. Back when I first had my surgery, I had to go everywhere on these crutches. I’m glad now that Dad convinced me not to get rid of them.

“Oh, here’s the book. You still want me to reserve it for you?” Armin asked while he held up _The Sorcerer’s Stone_ with a mischievous grin on his face.

“I can’t believe that bribed me out of my room with books.” I grumbled.

“I’ll just take that as a yes.” He said laughing.

Armin started telling me about school and I couldn’t help but feel envious. I had been pulled from school soon after I was diagnosed. I had wanted to go back to public school, but I knew Mom and Dad never let me go back. So, it seems that I’ll be stuck in homeschooling until I graduate. I don’t hate it, but sometimes I miss the human interaction.

“Anyways, how have your doctor’s appointments been going?” Armin asked.

“Well, they’ve said that they haven’t found anything so that means I’ve been going on two year.” I said a bit proudly. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d make it this far. Armin smiled.

“That’s really great Eren.” he said. Just then a bell went off in the store. Armin groaned.

“What?” I asked. Before he could answer Levi threw some keys at him.

 “Have fun locking up.” Levi said as he walked out.

“Are you going to need a ride home? It’s a process to lock this place up.” Armin asked.

“I’ll be fine. I can ride the bus.” I said. Armin looked like he didn’t believe me.

“Are you sure? The hill is pretty steep.” I knew that he was just concerned but it felt like pity.

“Armin, I’ll be fine. I promise.” I said sternly. He sighed.

“Alright. I’ll talk to you tomorrow then.” He said with a small smile. I smiled back and started to make my way up the hill. I soon regretted telling Armin I would be fine.

I didn’t even make it halfway up before my arms started to hurt and I felt winded. I leaned back against one of the buildings so I could catch my breath. God I regretted this so much.

“Hey, do you want a ride home?”

I looked up to see Levi in a dark green car. He had to be pitying me. Everyone always did. And it was because I was missing a leg. I fucking hated being pitied.

“No, I don’t want a ride. I don’t need your pity. I can make it up the hill just fine.” I spat. I positioned myself on my crutches and started back up the hill. I wasn’t going to accept his pity.

“Oi, Brat! I’m not pitying you, I’m just asking if you want a ride home. You and I both know there’s no way you’ll make it up the hill in time to catch the bus.” He said.

I stopped. He was right. I had about five minutes till the bus came and I’d never make it up the hill in that time. The prospect of a ride home started to sound really good right about now.

“Fine.” I said defeated. I got into his car and I started to catch my breath. Either that climb was even harder with crutches or I was out of shape. Probably both.

“You sure you don’t need me to drive you to the ER instead?” he asked sarcastically.

“Oh ha-ha,” I responded with a slight smile. “No, I don’t need to go to the ER. Just drive me to Whitecrest Lane. That is if you know where that is.”

“Yeah, I know where that is.” He said. For the first few minutes of the drive, it was silent. It wasn’t extremely awkward, but it was still awkward none the less. That’s when Levi broke the silence.

“So, how old are you?” he asked. Okay, that was one way to start a conversation.

“I’m sixteen. What about you?” I responded.

“I’m seventeen. So, I’m under the assumption that you go to Shinganshina High. Why have I never seen you around?” He asked.

“Actually, I’ve been homeschooled for the past few years so I don’t go to Shinganshina High. I kinda wish I did though. The way Armin talks it sounds pretty fun.” I said solemnly.

“Trust me, you’d prefer being homeschooled.” he said. I laughed. Armin and Mikasa always said that too.

“Okay, do you have any siblings?” he asked. Jeez, he asked a lot of questions.

“What, are we playing Twenty Questions?” I laughed. “Yeah I have a sister. Her name is Mikasa, you might know her. She goes to public school.”

“Wait, do you mean Mikasa Ackerman?” He asked. I nodded. “Really? Because you two look nothing alike.”

“Well, actually she’s adopted. My parents adopted her when she was ten. Her parents died in an accident and my dad happened to be her doctor in the hospital. They got her before she even went into Foster Care.” I said. I remember the day I met her. She was depressed and still pretty banged up from the accident. It was an awful sight to see on a ten year old. I looked over at Levi and he just nodded.

Our car ride continued on like that. He asked me questions and I’d answer. Sometimes I’d ask him a question. Sooner than I’d like to admit, we made it to my house.

“Well, thanks for giving me a ride home. I really appreciate it. And I’m sorry if I seemed like a dick when you first asked. I’m just tired of people thinking I’m helpless just because I have one leg.” I said. I hoped he wasn’t mad at me for my display back on Main Street. He didn’t seem to be, but he seemed to have a resting angry expression so it was kind of hard to tell

“Don’t worry about it. And no problem.” He responded.

I got out and made my way up the walk to the front door. Before I even got halfway up the walk, Mikasa opened the door.

“So how’d your hot date go?” She asked with a smirk. I waved one of my crutches at her.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever I’m home before dinner so I win.” I said. Mikasa broke out into laughter and helped me inside.


End file.
